3 Fire Safety Camping Tips to keep you safe at T in the Park

It’s time for the T in the Park party to begin once again. Last year the festival attracted around 80,000 music fans per day, with around 60,000 of those being campers. That makes it a very busy place to be, and means that people have to be extra vigilant about their surroundings to make sure the event goes off without any unexpected incidents.

Fire safety has to be a priority in people’s minds, particularly with so many potential fire risk factors in and around the camping areas of the festival. Some simple precautions could save a lot of unnecessary pain.

Code Red Fire safety want you all to go and have a great time … but we also want to give you some basic tips to help ensure minimal risk of fire. So we’ve pulled together some suggestions on how to avoid the most common reasons for fire while camping, brought to you by our resident fire expert – Lola.

1. Don’t smoke in your tent

We all know that smoking can be a fire risk, but it’s even more of a risk in confined spaces such as in a tent. In particular, when with friends, it can be too easy to drop a lit cigarette, causing a fire to start while you’re still inside. Smoking away from the tent also reduces the risk of you returning to your tent after the music finishes, to find it in ashes – because you forgot to put a cigarette out before you left.

2. No Barbecues in your tent

Seems an obvious one, but you’d be surprised how often it happens … particularly if it’s wet outside. The burning of all fossil fuels produces carbon monoxide (CO) and there have been deaths and serious injuries from CO poisoning in tents and caravans. It’s therefor important that you don’t use stoves or disposable barbecues, either for food or heat, in your tent. We’d recommend checking with the organisers of T in the Park to clarify their own rules surrounding use of barbecues and open fire while camping.

3. Leave space between tents to reduce spread of fire.

We appreciate it’s a tight space to squeeze in so many tents, but it’s important to leave as much space as you can between your tent and your neighbours tent. Fire can easily and quickly spread between tents. Again, check to see if there are rules you must obey when pitching. Some sites, for example, recommend tents are pitched up to 6 meters apart.

Festivals are there to be enjoyed, and they should absolutely be enjoyed …. but remember to enjoy without putting you or your friends at unnecessary risk. Hopefully the above camping fire safety tips will help you do that!